CLARCOR Inc. Reports Operating Results (10-K)

Clarcor Inc. has a market cap of $2.5 billion; its shares were traded at around $49.9 with a P/E ratio of 20.6 and P/S ratio of 2.2. The dividend yield of Clarcor Inc. stocks is 1%. Clarcor Inc. had an annual average earning growth of 7.6% over the past 10 years. GuruFocus rated Clarcor Inc. the business predictability rank of 4.5-star.

Highlight of Business Operations:

Selling and administrative expenses decreased $4.5 million, or 2%, in 2012 compared to 2011. This decrease was primarily driven by a $5.9 million decline in compensation related to our company-wide profit sharing program and a $3.2 million decline in legal expenses, partly offset by $3.1 million higher employee costs to support our long-term growth initiatives and $1.5 million higher other selling and administrative expenses to support our domestic and international growth initiatives. Our incentive compensation programs are tied to the achievement of objective annual goals, including the amount by which the Company's after-tax earnings exceeds the Company's cost of capital in relation to the assets under management's control. Although our operating profit increased by 1% in 2012 compared to 2011 and our diluted earnings per share was flat in 2012 compared to 2011, our results were below our internal annual goals, resulting in the decrease in incentive compensation in 2012 compared to 2011. The $3.2 million decline in legal expenses reflects the resolution during 2012 of certain legal matters, including the patent infringement lawsuit filed by Donaldson Company in 2009.

Net sales (including export sales and adjusted for changes in foreign currency exchange rates) outside the U.S. declined $2.8 million in 2012 from 2011. This was influenced by a decline of $4.6 million, or 15%, in sales in China driven by lower sales to OEM engine manufacturers due to lower diesel engine production activity in China, as well as a decline of $3.9 million due to the additional week in 2011. Excluding the effect of the additional week in 2011 and changes in foreign currency exchange rates, our heavy-duty engine filter sales in Europe increased $0.6 million, or 1%, in 2012 compared to 2011. All other net sales outside the U.S. increased by $5.1 million, or 5%, in 2012 compared to 2011 as we increased sales to South America, South Africa and the Middle East primarily of existing products to existing customers.

Cost of sales decreased $2.3 million, or 1%, in 2012 compared to 2011, primarily due to the 1% decrease in net sales. Cost of sales as a percentage of net sales increased to 63.2% in 2012 compared to 62.8% in 2011. Our raw material costs at our manufacturing facilities decreased approximately 2% in 2012 compared to 2011, driven by the 1% decrease in net sales and the benefits of certain cost reduction initiatives throughout our supply chain. Other components of cost of sales including direct labor, freight and manufacturing overhead increased 1%, or 0.6% as a percentage of sales, in 2012 due to annual salary rate and fringe benefit cost increases, higher freight costs as we continue to broaden our sales channels internationally, and lower overhead absorption driven by lower net sales, partially offset by lower compensation cost related to our company-wide profit sharing program.

Selling and administrative expenses decreased $2.9 million, or 4%, in 2012 from 2011. This decrease was driven by a $2.2 million decline in compensation related to our company-wide profit sharing program and a $2.5 million decline in legal expenses, partly offset by $1.3 million higher employee costs and $0.5 million higher other selling and administrative expenses. With selling and administrative expenses declining 4% while our net sales declined 1%, we reduced our selling and administrative expenses as a percentage of net sales to 14.6% in 2012 compared to 15.0% in 2011.

Cost of sales increased $11.7 million, or 3%, in 2012 compared to 2011. This increase was primarily the result of the 4% increase in net sales. Cost of sales as a percentage of net sales declined to 66.7% in 2012 compared with 66.8% in 2011. Our major components of cost of sales, including raw material, direct labor and manufacturing overhead all remained relatively flat as a percentage of net sales in 2012 compared to 2011. Although raw material costs increased about 3%, we were able to effectively pass these higher raw material costs to our customers through 2% higher pricing.

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